


Steps

by DewStream



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: A Kiss, Crooked Kingdom Spoilers, F/M, Hopeful Ending, Oneshot, Post-Crooked Kingdom, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DewStream/pseuds/DewStream
Summary: Her step faltered, and a floorboard let out a high squeak, no louder than that of a mouse, but what could have been boom of thunder. Inej's eyes snapped to Kaz, who was staring wide-eyed at her.
  The Wraith never missteps. Inej comes to tell Kaz goodbye before setting sail.





	

Now that her parents were on their way back to Ravka with more money in their pockets than they could ever dream of spending, Inej felt full again. The reunion had been tearful, and her mother hadn’t let her go for over two bells. Kaz had said a polite hello before leaving them to themselves, observing from a distance. When she had looked back for him, he had already gone.

She wished she could have been on the voyage home with them to catch up and learn of each other’s lives again. Her parents had stayed in Ketterdam with her for a week in a lavish hotel, and while it had been one of the most lovely weeks of her life, they had needed to get back home. She still had so many more stories to tell them (and so many she would spare them from), but she had had unfinished business here in Ketterdam.

She had needed time to organize her ship’s crew, and to plan for her own journey to Ravka, where she would begin her life again working to stop slavetraders like the ones that had captured her years back. She still had much to learn about ship life. Sturmhond had offered the advice that he could, but she still had a long way to go. Inej knew she’d be able to hold her footing aboard a ship, even in the wildest storm--she was The Wraith, after all--but she wasn’t so sure about holding her stomach.

It had taken longer than she had expected, but the day had finally come. With her crew assembled and ship completely loaded with supplies, there was only one thing left to do: set sail.

This particular morning, Inej found herself on the roofs of Ketterdam, the familiar height easing the stir in her stomach that she couldn’t quite shake. Her mind wandered as her feet carried her about the city, up fire escapes, across the loose board atop the church, past the Menagerie--in its boarded-up glory. The place that occasionally haunted her nightmares had not survived the false Plague outbreak, which gave Inej almost as much pleasure as her parents’ visit had.

She started as she realized she had ended up atop the Crow Club.

She crept through the window and soundlessly made her way to Per Haskell’s office, which she knew Kaz had taken as his own. He was perched at his desk, his back to her.

“What business?” Kaz asked in greeting, without having seen her. Somehow, he always knew.

Inej squared her shoulders. “I leave tomorrow.”

He turned towards her, thoughtfully holding her gaze for what Inej thought may have been a moment longer than was necessary. She tried to read the arch of his eyebrows, the curve of his mouth, his posture--but as always, he kept his emotions strictly safeguarded. ”Safe journey,” he responded, bowing back to his work, scanning a paper on his desk.

She quickly looked away, finding it hard to hide the disappointment in her face. Why had she come, anyway? She should have slipped in and out in the night and left a note for him to find long after she had cast off. Cheeks burning, Inej wondered if ever-rational Kaz had thought it best to forget the past moments between them.

“Specht and Rotty are joining me,” she continued cautiously, “I’ll return them by the beginning of fall.”

“I know.” Of course he did.

A pause settled heavy between them. 

“No mourners,” he finally said, not looking up from his papers.

Inej pressed her lips together, taking a deep breath. “No funerals,” she finished, looking around the room at the floor, the walls, the desk--anything but Kaz. She turned to leave, defeated, but something caught her eye pinned behind the open closet door. Her step faltered, and a floorboard let out a high squeak, no louder than that of a mouse, but what could have been boom of thunder. Her eyes snapped to Kaz, who was staring wide-eyed at her.

The Wraith never missteps.

Her eyes flickered back to the closet, its door ajar just far enough for Inej to make out a faded paper pinned inside, with a face staring back at her. Her face.

“My wanted poster,” she breathed, as Kaz forced his way past her, his cane forgotten. The door slammed shut with so much force, it shook the curtains on the window.

Shocked, Inej spun on her heels towards the doorway, but he caught her arm. “Inej,” he sighed, so close that his warm breath singed her neck. She could still feel the kiss he had once left there.

Neither moved for a few long moments. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he murmured.

She stared at his gloved hand that held her elbow for a moment before daring to look up at him. He, as always, was completely unreadable. 

“Will you miss it?” he asked. 

Inej’s mind reeled. Was he asking about Ketterdam, the Crow Club, the Dreggs, or…? 

“I’ll be back,” she answered, barely breathing. She swore she could hear her heart beating, each pulse the deafening roar of a cannon.

“Fall, then,” he replied evenly.

“Fall then,” she whispered. His face was so close, now.

His lips brushed hers softer than a flick of a feather, lighter than the first snowflake of winter, and fast enough that later, Inej wondered if she may have imagined it.

He immediately pulled his body away from hers, his hand dropping from her arm, to her wrist, to her fingertips. Even though he had turned his body completely away from her, he hadn’t let go of her hand.

Inej felt like she might burst.

Kaz slowly walked back to his desk and sat, righting his cane from where he had knocked it to the ground. 

“Goodbye, Wraith,” he dismissed, catching her eye once before he looked back to his work. Had he smiled?

Stunned, she clutched her elbow where he had held it, her eyes settling back to the now-shut closet door. Then without a word, she turned and fled. 

**Author's Note:**

> Haven't written fanfic for a long time, but couldn't help myself after finishing Crooked Kingdom. Oh, how I love these two so! Thanks so much for reading :) 
> 
> Love, Dewy


End file.
